


Imagine if...

by jackermager



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Ending, M/M, ereri, ereriren, riren - Freeform, rivaere - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:55:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29332644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackermager/pseuds/jackermager
Summary: Eren wins at the end of the story.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman & Eren Yeager, Levi Ackerman/Eren Yeager
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55
Collections: Ereri/Riren





	Imagine if...

**Author's Note:**

> Forget the title, I'm just not inspired.
> 
> Beware of possible spoilers.
> 
> Here's a short story featuring an alternate ending to the manga, mainly focused on Eren and Levi.
> 
> Please excuse my spelling mistakes, English isn't my mother tongue.

Eren walked alone like a ghost under a gloomy sky, through an apocalyptic setting of ashes and corpses. The atmosphere was heavy, only the sound of his footsteps on the rubble and dust echoed in the darkness of this new day. This sadly victorious day for mankind. 

The marks under his eyes burned his flesh, but they’ll never regenerate. The era of the titans was over and his scars would be the vestige of his true form. Eren was the last survivor of the Rumbling, or rather the war for freedom, condemned to wander on the island he had turned into hell; such was the new curse that awaited him. 

Last survivor ? That's what he thought until he heard a coughing fit breaking the dead silence. 

Intrigued, Eren hastened towards the originator of the noise. What kind of person could be mad enough to have survived such a massacre ? Oh, he had an idea in mind, which was confirmed when he knelt down next to the miraculous. 

"Captain Levi..." announced Eren in a soft voice. 

At the same time, he took the opportunity to inspect his superior; the man had half-closed eyes, his face was slashed all over, his left leg was partly torn off and he was coughing up a lot of blood. This man was nothing human, thought Eren. He was like him after all, a monster with a human face, and he was relieved to see him alive. 

"I recognize that voice... Eren," whispered painfully the man. 

"Yes, it's going to be okay," Eren replied, as he gently lifted his Corporal’s head, who slowly began to open his steely eyes. "It's over, we are free... You are free." 

Levi didn't answer and stared at Eren, the young man's figure becoming sharper and clearer as the seconds passed. It was as if he was caught in the mystical color of those magnificent big green eyes and it was almost as if... He was drowning in that look he had missed so much. 

"You must hate me…" Eren said bitterly.

"Why ? It was what you wanted, right ?" 

Eren looked at Levi in turn and looked away for a split second. For sure, Levi always had a knack for destabilizing him. 

"I made the choice that I thought was the right one and... There are some things we can't predict." 

Levi smiled slightly at those words, the same ones he had said to him a few years ago, and coughed harder. Immediately, Eren grabbed his superior's icy right hand and squeezed it, determined. Levi enjoyed the warmth of his flesh and wrapped his fingers around his.

"You will get well. You are humanity’s strongest soldier. You cannot leave me alone, not after everything I‘ve done. Only you are able to kill me, isn’t it ?" 

"I’m no longer able to do it since a long time… Idiot." 

Eren opened his mouth, somewhat overturned by the revelation. But didn't he already know that unconsciously ? Probably, but hearing Levi admit it out loud made him feel a weird sensation in his heart. 

"You know, I’ve never had a chance to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Everything you’ve been, everything you are. So... Thank you, Capt—... I mean, Levi." 

Eren felt Levi's fingers tighten around his before this one coughed harder. No doubt possible for Eren : Levi had understood his message and was deeply touched. 

"You are my only regret, Eren. There are so many things I wanted to tell you..." 

"But I’m here now and I’m listening to you," encouraged the younger one. 

"I..." 

Eren was intensely staring at his parted lips but only one last breath came out. He felt the man's fingers loosen from his grip, the light in his eyes went out and his chest fell back, and he knew; Levi was gone from this world. He had lived through cruel times and he had clung to promises made to his fallen comrades, forgetting the simple happiness of living for himself. At least, in his last moments, he had finally become free. 

"Levi… It was you who said that we shouldn't have any regrets, huh ? SO COME BACK ! NOW !" cried Eren as he hugged him tightly. 

He was hoping Levi would open his eyes again, but nothing happened. The rain began to fall, as if the sky was crying for him. In the end, Eren had lost everyone he loved and he was responsible for it. In order to win peace, he went to war as the hope and as the monster, accepting the losses of other human beings. But now, what should he do ? 

Completely alone, he had only one alternative : he had to keep moving forward towards his punishment. 

Before that, Eren rested Levi's body on the ground and closed his eyes, stroking his dark lashes in the process. Then he ran his thumb over his lower lip and his chin to wipe the blood that was starting to dry on his pure snow skin. An emotional but unnecessary gesture intended to make him presentable. He took off his jacket and placed it delicately over his inert body. He stood up and left to his fatal destiny without looking back.

After a long moment of walking, Eren stopped, lifted his head up, and cracked. His tears melted with raindrops as he realized that the wings of freedom had flown away forever.

It was the rebirth of a new world in which they no longer had their place.


End file.
